Drum practice pad arrangement



Nov. 8, 1955 R. c. PACE DRUM PRACTICE PAD ARRANGEMENT Filed April 2, 1953 INVENTOR. RALPH C. PH c5 United States Patent DRUM PRACTICE PAD ARRANGEMENT Ralph C. Pace, White Plains, N. Y.

Application April 2, 1253, Serial No. 346,303

4 Claims. (Cl. 84-411) This invention relates to a drum pad practice arrangement.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a drum pad practice arrangement which has a complete set of drum practice pads assembled in close relationship to one another and a bass drum beater adapted to beat against a support to give practice to the feet at the same time that practice is being given with the drum sticks.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drum pad practice arrangement wherein other pads can be added to the arrangement at the will or" the student or instructor and as the student advances with his music and wherein the drum pads can be adjusted as to height and relative location with respect to the student and to each other.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drum pad practice arrangement having a bass drum beater and wherein an additional angle member is positioned upon the upright member for the beater at an angled location relative thereto for the attachment of an instructors beater so that the instructor can sit nearby and give to the student the feel of the beater along with his drumming upon the elevated drum pads.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a drum pad practice arrangement an upright member to.

which a wood block can be attached and a bass drum beater angle bracket which projects beyond the side of the upright member so that foot beater bearing a clave can be aligned with the wood block.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drum pad practice arrangement having separable base members, one of the base members adapted to support an upright member and a beater adapted to beat thereagainst and another base member supporting a practice pad positioned in the location of atom-tom and which can be added to or removed from the arrangement and the removal of the tom-tom base permitting access to an angle piece to which the instructors pedal beater may be attached.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a drum pad practice arrangement having the above objects in mind, which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, easy to assemble and adjust, provides a support for drum sticks which not in use, has a clamp to which cymbal may be attached, compact, and convenient and efficient in use.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete drum pad practice arrangement set up for use by a student and making available to him the equivalent of four different drums and with a pedal beater attached to an upright member serving as the bass drum;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the arrangement with the pedal beater attached in an offset location relative to the bass drum upright member to bring a clave on the pedal into alignment with a wood block extending laterally from the bass drum upright member and with the tom-tom drum base detached to provide access to the angle bracket for the instructors foot pedal beater;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary and enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and through the attachment of the pedal with the angle attaching bracket;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1 and through one of the drum pads and showing its adjustable connection with a laterally extending adjustable supporting member.

Referring now to the figures, 10 represents a base from which there extends a bass drum upright member 11 against which foot pedal beater 12 may engage and a vertical snare drum support 13 at one side of the board. The snare drum support has a bolt 14 at its upper end by which an adjustable support 15 is connected thereto. The adjustable support 15 has a block 16 on its upper end to which there is adhered a rubber pad 17, which is struck in the usual manner by drum sticks 18 and 19 that are supported, when not in use, in holes 20 and 21 respectively provided in the upper end of the bass drum upright member 11. I

The adjustable member 15 has a series of holes 22 at difierent elevations through any of which the clamping bolt 14 may extend. If it is desired to get angular adjustment of the adjustable member 15 on the support 13, the bolt may be extended through either one of side holes 23 or 24. The support member 13 is preferably arranged at an angle on the base it) in order to provide adequate room for the foot pedal beater 12 and for the students foot.

On the bass drum member 11 adjacent the base 10 is a bracket 25 of angle section to which lower and upper clamp members 26 and 27 of the beater 12, Fig. 3, are

made fast. A clamping screw 29 is tightened to bring the clamp members 26 and 27 into engagement with the opposite sides of the bracket 25. A further clamping screw 30 is tightened to finally secure the clamping members 26 and 27 with the bracket 25 This bracket 25 is elongated and extends laterally to one side of the bass drum board 11 in order to permit the I beater 12 to be connected thereto at a laterally spaced location therefrom, as shown in Fig. 2. As set up in Fig. 1, the beater 12 has a beating element 31 to engage with the face of the upright member 11, but in the arrangement as set up in Fig. 2, there is provided a clave 32 adapted to engage with a wood block 33. On the upperend of the upright member 11 is a laterally-extendingbracket 34 to which the box 33 is attached. The wood' block 33 is fixed to the bracket 34 by screws 35.

On the rear face of the bass drum upright member 11, there is attached an adjustable supporting arm 36 having a plurality of adjusting holes 37 therein. This supporting arm is held on the bass drum upright member 11 by a bolt 38 which may be extended through any of the several holes 37 and the supporting arm 36 made secure against rotation upon the bolt 38 by a clamping nut, not shown.

The upper end of the adjustable supporting arm 36 has a straight end face 38, as shown in Fig. 4, and a bolt 39 extending outwardly therefrom. Attached to this end face 38 is another adjustable supporting arm 41 having a plurality of adjusting holes 42 adapted to receive the bolt 39. The adjustable supporting arm 41 is made secured to the supporting arm 36 by a wing nut 43 threaded upon bolt. The upper end of the adjustable arm 41 has a block 44 to which there is adhered a rubber drum practice pad 45. This practice pad will be located in the position of a left tom-tom drum. The pad 45 through the adjustable supporting arms 36 and 41 can be adjusted to different levels and angled to any desired position depending upon the size and wish of the drummer.

A hand clamp 46 is secured to the side of the upright member 11 and into this a rod support for a cymbal can be extended and fixed by turning clamping screw 47.

The base is recessed along one side as indicated at 48 in order to provide space into which an instructors beater can be extended for engagement with an angle bracket 49 fixed to the side of the member 11. This foot pedal is worked by the instructor at a position angled from the student and so he can, by his use of the separate pedal with a beater element engaging with the side of the member 11, convey to the student proper timing for the movement and use of the bass drum beater.

Extending upwardly from the base 10 are screw projections 50 and 51 with which swingable hook members 52 and 53 may be respectively engaged upon a base 54 being aligned with the base member 10 and filling the recess 48. This base member 54 has an upright member 55 to which an adjustable supporting member 56 is attached by a clamp bolt 57 that may extend through any one of a series of holes 58 of the supporting member 56. On the upper end of the supporting member 56 is connected a standard practice box pad 59 having a rubber pad 60 on the top thereof. This box pad provides a second tom-tom drum in the appropriate location at the right of the drummer. This practice pad 59 can be elevated and adjusted to the desired location for the drummer. With this practice pad connected to the base 10 of the main arrangement, there is provided a complete drum pad practice arrangement.

The drummer seats himself up to the arrangement and beats the rubber pads with the drum sticks and keeps time with the foot on the pedal and builds up the needed coordination and foot flexibility while playing on the pads. The arrangement thus provides for the practicing of the foot as well as for hand study. Instead of the student beating his foot on the floor, the student may beat his foot on the bass drum pedal which will be used later with a regular set of drums.

It should be apparent also that the pads are adjustable and at two different elevations and can be tilted as well to properly locate and position them relative to the drummer. It will be seen that the drum sticks 18 and 19 when not in use can be placed in a location where they can be easily picked up. The construction of the device is sturdy, light in weight and does not take up great space. Also, these parts can be easily transported. It will be seen that the drum pad practice arrangement is noiseless and makes it possible for students and professional drummers to practice in an appartment house without disturbing the other tenants.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drum practice arrangement comprising a base, upwardly-extending supports mounted on said base and spaced from one another, a practice drum pad member connected to one of said upwardly-extending supports and being in the position usually occupied by the snare drum, the other of said upwardly-extending supports having an angle bracket connected to one face thereof, a pedal operated beater mounted on said base and clamped to said bracket, said beater being aligned with the other of said upwardlyextending supports to beat thereagainst as with a bass drum, a second drum pad member connected to said other upwardly-extending support above the beater and in the position usually occupied by the tom-tom drum, whereby the normal attitude of the player upon the bass, snare and tom-tom drums may be simulated.

2. A drum practice arrangement comprising a base, upwardly-extending supports mounted on said base and spaced from one another, a practice drum pad member connected to one of said upwardly-extending supports and being in the position usually occupied by the snare drum, the other of said upwardly-extending supports having an elongated angle bracket connected to one face thereof, a pedal operated beater adapted to be selectively clamped to said bracket along the length thereof, said bracket on said other upwardly-extending support extending laterally to one side thereof, a wood sound block connected to the other support to extend laterally therefrom and above said bracket, said beater being clamped to said bracket at a position laterally spaced from the said other support so that the breater may operate upon the wood block, whereby said pedal operated beater may be either positioned to beat the said other support or to operate upon the wood sound block.

3. A drum practice arrangement comprising a base, upwardly-extending supports mounted on said base and spaced from one another, a practice drum pad member connected to one of said upwardly-extending supports, the other of said upwardly-extending supports having an angle bracket connected thereto, a pedal operated beater mounted on said base and clamped to said bracket, said beater being aligned with the other of said upwardlyextending supports to beat thereagainst, and a second angle bracket connected to said other upwardly-extending support at right angles to the first mentioned bracket, said second angle bracket serving as a means by which a second pedal operated beater may be attached.

4. A drum practice arrangement comprising a base, upwardly-extending supports mounted upon said base and spaced from one another, a practice drum pad member connected to one of said upwardly-extending supports, the other of said upwardly-extending supports having an angle bracket connected thereto, a pedal operated beater mounted on said base and clamped to said bracket, said beater being aligned with said other upwardly-extending support to beat thereagainst, an auxiliary base, means for detachably connecting said auxiliary base to the first mentioned base at one side thereof, said auxiliary base having an upwardly-extending support and a drum practice pad connected to the auxiliary support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 800,509 Stanton Sept. 26, 1905 1,149,762 Hendrickson Aug. 10, 1915 1,456,242 Leedy May 22, 1923 1,703,069 Strupe Feb. 19, 1929 1,808,085 Troppe June 2, 1931 2,108,693 SeWell Feb. 15, 1938 2,445,486 Londe July 20, 1943 2,565,225 Gladstone Aug. 21, 1951 2,616,662 Sannebeck Oct. 28, 1952 

